The National Transport Authority (NTA) is facing renewed scrutiny at the Dáil Public Accounts Committee (PAC) over delays and cost pressures affecting major public transport IT systems, alongside questions about governance and oversight.
Committee Chair Sinn Féin TD John Brady said he was "absolutely shocked by the rosy picture the NTA have tried to portray" about an Irish Rail project and decribed the situation as "alarming to say the least".
PAC is to write to the NTA for further information and will also inform Minister for Transport Darragh O'Brien to alert him to the matter.
Deputy Brady noted expert warnings that train services between Bray and Rosslare could be adversely affected if the committee's concerns are not addressed.
Reading from correspondance PAC received from Irish Rail, he added: "We need to establish what those risks are."
The committee was responding having received correspondance from Anne Shaw, Chief Executive of the NTA, relating to the performance of a major IT contractor which is involved in both a new train traffic control system for Irish Rail and the next-generation national ticketing system intended to replace the Leap card.
"I find it a bit alarming", Fine Gael TD Grace Boland said, that the NTA cannot put a figure on what the train control project will cost.
Deputy Brady noted that the Minister for Transport has described the project as "the brains" of the rail system.
"€36 million has already been spent, well, given to the contractor. Yet the commissioning date of 2024 is well passed and we're looking at 2027 for the most basic phase."
Project manager has 'no confidence' in contractor's ability to deliver
Deputy Brady noted the original budget for the project was €19.5m, and said the project manager has "no confidence in [the contractor] Indra's ability to deliver".
"This project... came to the NTA board in 2019 and didn't come again 'til halfway through the year in which the whole project was supposed to be being delivered," Deputy Boland said.
"That's a serious corporate governance issue to my mind. I find that deeply concerning."
The deputy said that "something went wrong here, seriously wrong" in relation to "the procurement process and due diligence process".
"Not only was the project set up for failure, but we can see that there's a track record of this particular contractor having significant issues delivering elsewhere, and that is simply not good enough."
Concerns were raised about discrepancies between reporting provided to the NTA board and separate Irish Rail board minutes, with committee members saying that the internal documentation reflected more serious concerns about delivery risks than had been evident in updates presented by NTA to PAC.
Deputy Boland said she was struck by what she described as a "nonchalant tone" in some NTA status reports, contrasting this with more cautious assessments contained in Irish Rail board records.
She said it was important that reporting to oversight bodies contained full and accurate information, and expressed concern that PAC is not getting the "full picture" on the project.
She also raised concerns about repeated revisions to timelines and costs on the train control system, and the difficulty in establishing a clear final figure for the project.
